*Evening in a small town*Peeking out from behind the wall, he saw how the neon-eyed 'cowboy' was pointing at the head of someone. Seeing a girl charge, however, he took cover behind the wall when he heard a gunshot. As bullets started flying around, he ducked against the wall he was behind, seeing others jump for cover too, of which two jumped in a ditch about 5 meters further down the road.

*"Hell"*As the ground turned to sand, and the setting sun turned to a bright light in the sky, Nate felt the heat rise and coil around everything. He felt dizzy because of it, and felt himself grow weaker, as if the temperature was stripping away his 'power'. "How the hell did this place turn into an oven?!" He said it quite loud, so it was likely that the two in the 'used to be a ditch' heard him.

- If you don't give a crap, go out and find a reason to.- Life is as good as your current state permits you to enjoy it. - To block out the world, I put headphones on, so I don't have to listen, to anyone.

Karen glared darkly at Odile, her throat burning with rage. How dare she talk about her like that. A duck? A duck was she?! “You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” the girl spat back at her vehemently. “You really don’t.”

She was tempted to show her then and there, but then the other things happening around her caught her attention. She stared in confusion and incredulity at the gunman and what was being demanded of them. “What...?” She looked dumbstruck, as the others decided to stand up and fight...without even questioning what the hell this was all about?! Really, what the hell was anyone thinking? The whole ‘choosing if the man dies or not’ made no sense to her whatsoever. What was that all about? She couldn’t care less about the man with a gun to his head – he wasn’t her problem as far as she was concerned, and if they were going to kill him, she wouldn’t mind at all...but what for? These people had given them hardly any reason why the man should die, and what did that have to do with their safety? Something was hunting them, okay...but what? Not to mention they only had their word to go on...If they’d wanted the group to agree to kill the man, why say little to convince them beyond a few vague riddles and not actually explain anything? Did they really expect them to just go along with it?

“None of this makes any rotten sense,” she muttered, somewhat angry by their stupidity. And she saw her team as just as stupid, going all noble without a second thought to WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON. Fuck it all, they all deserve to die, the utter idiots. she thought to herself. She had to admit, privately she was flattered by Lorenz’s heroics...although she still thought it was ridiculously stupid. In fact she was so stunned by the actions taken by members on both sides, she didn’t have a chance to put her two cents in – before she knew it, the man threatened with a gun had been shot, and they were being attacked.

“WHAT?” Karen cried, completely enraged and confused by the whole situation, “WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING AT US?!”- She was very thankful that Lorenz managed to get her out of the line of fire, of course. Not so happy about the swan being rescued too...although she guessed that couldn’t be helped. Her confusion only grew as there was...sand? Heat? A desert? Was there an end to the complete lack of understanding she had right now? “We’ll be fine,” she said to Lorenz. For the first time, she seemed sincere, as she added, “...Thank you.”

Of course, when she meant ‘we’, what she really meant was ‘herself’...but she wasn’t going to say that. She had no intention of sticking with swan girl. The former dancer had already decided she was going to find out what was actually going on, because the others so far seemed more concerned with the rogue gunman. The fact that the tower was the only thing unchanged hadn’t gone unnoticed by her. Since both sides were in her books so utterly stupid, she wouldn’t bother engaging with any of them. Instead, she would head to the tall building...it looked about the safest place to be, right now. The fact that it was the only thing left unchanged, it was like an anchor to Karen, who just wanted some normality and logic back, and something she felt familiar with.

Assuming the gunman and everyone would be too busy fighting to notice she had gone, Karen started to move herself quickly and carefully towards the only building that made the slightest bit of sense to her, and one she felt at home with...the others could all fight and die for all she cared, she just wanted to know what was going on around here.

Lorenz turned and smiled at Karen as she muttered her thanks. He turned and watched as the lady in the rather large shoe crashed the wall in, then apologized. Lorenz raised his voice "My dear lady, he wishes to harm the children~! You must punish that delinquent so he will stay on the straight and narrow~! Lest he be forever tainted~!" Lorenz crossed his fingers, approaching the building slowly. "Liyr~?! I'm coming to help~!" Lorenz eyed the cat across his shoulders "I would assume this is your doing~? Changing the world around us... But why are you helping this... gunman~? We don't want this~! We just want safety~!" Lorenz tightened his grip on the shovel, then entered the building. He dove to the side of the tank, huddling next to it. He didn't want another conflict to occur, but having any of the girls hurt was something to be avoided. Girls. It reminded him of back home, before this all occurred. He was the center of attention of the girls again, although not all the attention seemed amorous for once.

Fenix13: Remember this well Gareth: With great power... comes hot bitches.

Odette struggled against her staright jacket Yes, yes fine and dandy. her white dress was getting covered in dirt, laying on the ground near a door Can someone help me up? Odile usually helped her up. The useless thing's never here when I need it.

Odile

Why can't I MOVE? Odile was on the verge of panicking in a ditchI can't help Odette! Why why why? She started blinking. Three rapid three slow three rapid. She sent out a desparate suggestion to Dmitry ПОМОЩЬ! Help me I'm burning!. She kept repeating the blinking pattern her dark hair singeing

You... you really don't get it... do you? I... I love him... I'd die with him. Or for him. That's what you do... how you feel when you love someone. - Impulse

"Scared?! I'm not scared!" piped up Johanna who had been contemplating the house the entire time. "I'm just suspicious that's all. I don't trust anybody on this stupid island." And those two. There was something fishy about them, she just knew it. The fact Sin know them didn't help either. "Hidden cost"? As if she didn't knew that already. Her first hint was the fact she couldn't bloody sleep. It was kind of obvious. Like it mattered anyways, all Johanna wanted (and needed) was food, once she was full she was getting the hell out of there. By far she wasn't impressed by the overall look of the building, but her ears perked up at the sound that it was completely edible.

"No kidding?" Johanna stared about her, taking in every fine detail with greedy eyes. Just think...even that piece of wood was really a delicious meal for the soul. But why? Why the hell would anybody want to help a bunch of random people on the streets? Surely it wasn't out of the kindness of these people's hearts? No, Johanna wasn't buying that. These guys looked too suspicious for that. She was starting to think they weren't even a couple. "Leader". She was exhausted but not hard of hearing (how else would she hear people talking about her from a mile away?). "Alright, so what's the catch?" After being cursed by the Sandman, it has always been second nature for Johanna to expect a catch.

Rokku awoke in his pod with a sigh. "Upside down, just my luck." he sighed, pushing the door open. He knew from the temperature he wouldn't be able to move the water and instead tried to find something the cut through the straps. Finding nothing, he began doing the only thing he could think of, chewing through them. After a while, he fell from the pod with a thump and looked around, seeing other open pods. "Looks like they went this way." he sighed, ignoring the noise behind him. He began walking.

Soon, he came to a large house, seemingly made of sweets. He laughed and entered, thinking it'd be safer than the forest. He walked around until he saw someone on his knees with blood on his arm. "You alright?" he asked, stepping closer to the man. "Do I need to find some bandages?"

Because when I arriveI-I'll bring the firemake you come aliveI can take you higherwhat the saint's forgotI must now remind youLet it rock!Let it rock!Let it rock!

Julian Hellion - Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, Pulled my trigger, now he's dead

Julian had watched silently as the girl, Johanna asked the catch. He glared at her slightly, not liking how close she was to William. Then he saw this strange boy go near William and he was about to touch him. “Get away from him!” the boy hissed, the shadows gathering around him in two shoulder-sized demonic dogs, the nightmares growling, “These are my nightmares, I can get them to shred you! Get away from him, now!” Shadows seem to swirl around him erratically, uncontrolled in his anger.

He stepped back and looked at the other boy, slightly scared about the apparent shadows. However, he didn't show it. He tested the temperature, thinking it might be cold enough to morph a little water to soak the boy as a distraction. He failed. What the hell? he thought, keeping an eye on the boy.

"I'm not going to hurt him." he said, his hands in plain view. "I only want to help." He felt a little sweat on his brow and thought he'd be able to control that. After wiping his brow, he sighed, failing at his water morphing again. What is my problem? he thought to himself, thinking he might've lost his powers.

Because when I arriveI-I'll bring the firemake you come aliveI can take you higherwhat the saint's forgotI must now remind youLet it rock!Let it rock!Let it rock!

"It's alright Julian..." William wheezed to his newly found friend but as he finished he began to suffer a coughing fit, one of his lungs had some fluid in it causing the fit. It took several rough and painful sounding coughs before a clump of blood was released, not much bigger than a grape. After coughing it up William groaned trying to regain what ever dignity he had left.

"Won't need a bandage... need space... need to calm down....too much stress" William rasped without looking towards the person who offered his help, "Experiments... altered my blood disorder....P-polycythemia....V-v-vera... I...My body.... it makes too much blood... when I'm stressed... I make more... body can't handle it....Have..to.. sweat excess blood..." William explained through short breathes, his every word was laboured and there was a painful itch at the back of his throat. Slowly he drew back the left sleeve of his ragged to reveal his scarred arm, numerous surgical markings and needle marks could be seen along the muscle and yet there was no open wound to show where the blood had started."I'm v-v-very sorry about the floor ma'am" William stuttered an apology as he tried to get back up. The muscles in his legs were burning from the stopped transformation but Will knew the pain would've been worse had his power fully activated.

"Can I w-wait a moment, I'd like to catch m-my breath before cont-tinuing..." The ragged man asked in a nervous tone as he fell back to his knees unable to stand just yet.

Gertrude's head tilted slightly when Lorenz cried out to her. His sing song voice was so annoying. So very annoying. "Damn kids, stop shouting. Stop shouting, stop shouting, stop shouting!!" The shoe wheeled around suddenly to face Lorenz. "Be quiet you despicable child!! I won't be told what to do by some snot nosed brat!!" The insane woman snapped again, this time turning back to the gunman. "And you!! No one get's to punish my children but me!! That's a momma's job after all!!" Again Gertrude threw the lever, sending the mechanical monstrosity flying towards the gunman.

Dmitry slowly raised his head above the sandy ditch, trying to see if the gunfire had ended. He was surprised to see the whole place covered in sand and gusts of wind. A dessert, it just had to be one of the few things that he despised and hated. The Doctor protected his eyes from the sand with his arm, the sleeve of his coat fluttered when blown by the strong dessert wind. He noticed that the buildings from before had remained intact and one of them had a large shoe stuck to its entrance. The eyes above his surgical mask stared at the shoe for a while, his brain was still trying to adjust itself to the situation.

ПОМОЩЬ! Help me I'm burning!

The girl's desperate thoughts for help snapped Dmitry's mind back to Earth. He quickly turned around and slid back into the ditch towards the girl. Do not worry, we are safe девочка, the Doctor replied to calm the girl down. The truth however was not as similar to what he had said. They were lying in a ditch and it was hard to see what was happening outside. What was worse, the heat and unfamiliar sand would probably tire them out before they could do anything to protect themselves. Out of the blue, the man's ears picked up a familiar sound. It was the singing man's voice, calling out to the shoe that he had saw earlier. Did it mean that it was safe to come out?

Without any hesitation, the Doctor took of his coat and covered the girl with its black leathery interior. The leather would be able to cool her down and cover her from the heat for now. We will be moving now девочка. Are you ready? without waiting for a reply, Dmitry lifted her up effortlessly and quickly climbed out of the ditch. Once out, he looked around and saw the building where the girl with wooden legs was running to. He immediately ran to her, with the fallen bird still in his hands.

Lorenz resisted the urge to swear at the vile old woman. Her words were almost as bad as her looks. Lorenz turned and ran to Liyr, using his shovel as a shield. "You alright~? This guy is out of our league~!" He tugged Liyr's arm carefully. "The girls are outside, I think Karen is going to the tower~. The one who changed is with the other man, and Odette... Erm... I think she's where I left her~." Lorenz rubbed his head casually, but quickly came back to his normal self after a bullet ricocheted off the shovel, leaving a small dent. His next words were just loud enough for Liyr to hear. "The crone is going to squish him with her damned shoe. Let's get out of here before she brings down all the support beams~!" Lorenz turned, exiting through the rather large hole where the door had been mere minuted before. He sighed, dusting off his clothes. He hadn't expected to have to be in this kind of heat. Lorenz ran over to Odette, picking her up. "Sorry about that, I had to lend a hand~." He turned and looked for Karen. He couldn't see her, but he knew she had been moving for the tower. He struck off at a jog, moving towards the tower. He wasn't going to be anywhere near that crazy lady, at least not in a life or death situation.

Fenix13: Remember this well Gareth: With great power... comes hot bitches.

Liyr glared at the building before heading back with Lorenz. "Fine, as long as the creep gets what is coming to him somehow. And he was not 'out of our league'. We could have taken him." The old woman gave him the creeps as well, if only because of the hauntingly huge shoe. For some reason, Liyr had a feeling that that thing would appear in nightmares later on. He looked around for the others, then shrugged. "Guys, we're going after Karen!"

Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

As the door bursts open, the first thing, the old woman in the tank sees is a bar with the gunslinger, Vhombus placing his strange gun back into its holster. He didn't acknowledge her at first, he simply clenched his right fist, which the knuckles pop out. " Ma'am, there is some that will help you, some that support you, and me, I mean suppose to hunter you." He finally said, which no one heard, of course, too much bickering amongst them. It was their true weakest, after all, next to being very arrogant with their powers. A lit cigar was in ash tray, which Vhombus placed in his mouth and smiled as he stood his ground, pulling back his right arm.

" Ain't no rest for the wicked." He remarked in response to Gertude's threat. A mechanical monstrosity versus a bio-mechanical monstrosity, the staff in hell must having a good old time, Vhombus figured as he punched the shoe tank, sending it and the pilot flying backwards to the building behind them. Through the tank protected Gertude from the punch, she could of sworn, she smelled liquor, hot liquor like someone boiled it.

On one of the tables in the bar, Vhobus grabbed a rope and a grenade. The crash of the shoe may have alerted the group, but their stubborned like wild horses. The tank wouldn't be enough especially with him, they won't stand against him, here in wonderland. Vhombus stepped out of the bar with the pin on the grenade already pulled in one hand, while the other was twirling around the rope that he made into a lasso. It seemed like everything here was for his advantage.

He lobbed the grenade over the group's heading to the tower. Karen made it in, but that's all Vhombus was willing to let in . And if he knew, the puppet boy, Liyr, he would protect himself, he have no choice to do it, which is why tossed the lasso. The grenade exploded, and the lasso wrapped tightly around Liyr's neck. He would still be able to protect himself from the blast, it the afterwards, Vhombus was focusing on it as he pulled him down to the ground. Since it was the desert wonderland, he just need to wait for the next phrase of his plan of attack

_Karen_

" You've got questions, I got answers." The voice remarked, the same voice that they first talked to, the first one that toyed with them. The first room, Karen had entered looked like a lounge. It had small tables with two mugs, a couple of chairs, a television that was black and white depicting the cowboy and the rest of the group. Behind, Karen, if she would notice was a black abyss, devoid of anything.

" You're intentions are completely selfish, but at least you asked, the more important question." The voice went on to say somewhere in the room. It sounded like it was coming from nearby the black mirco wave. " Some of you must die, from time to time, and the reason, Big Boss demands it." The voice answered. " Unstable, but enough, to corrupt the land, we walk upon, dooming us all if one of you doesn't die when it saids so."

_South East_

" Because, we must hunter you, one of you to satisfy the one we call Big Boss." The man named Vox as he looked down at the patients who were continuously shrinking to smaller and smaller sizes. " If we don't, we all die, and that means all of us. Simple as that." He said as his answer.

"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

As the shoe crashed through the building from the force of Vhombus' punch, Gertrude was tossed around like a sadistic salad. The elderly woman lifted the hatch at the top of the shoe, pulling her torso out so as to get some air. "Oh my that wasn't pleasant at all." she commented absent-mindedly, gazing around the bar as she did. The crazy old woman perked up a bit as she noticed the rows of alcohol lining the back wall. "Oh!! How delightful!!" The woman raised her arm as black mist swirled around her hand, forming slowly into a whip. With a quick lash the woman snagged one of the bottles from the back wall and yanked it towards her.

After catching the fire water, Gertrude uncorked the top and tipped it to the sky. The woman finished, exuding a smelly alcoholic fume from her mouth as she tossed the bottle away. "Remember children, alcohol is the devil unless it's momma drinking it." she cackled, ducking back inside her tank. The woman's accent suddenly shifted to that of a southern redneck as she began to chant, "She put that bottle to her head, and THREW THE LEVER!!!" The shoe kicked forward again, launching itself towards the gunman. But do to Gertrude's poor aim and recently acquired drunkenness, the shoe sailed by without so much as scratching him. "Hic. Oh dear-hic. It seems I've-hic had a bi-hic too much to dr-hic." Gertrude sighed, rocking back and forth inside her ridiculous tank.

The hair on the back of Liyr's neck prickled and he turned to see the grenade. "Lorenz, get down! Attach!" The lines grabbed a bottle that conveniently sailed through the air and used it to bat the grenade away. "Was it th- *gak*" Liyr clawed at the rope around his neck. The controller was no use here, he couldn't see what was affecting him. If he had attempted to cut it, he'd have to guess where to attack and might hurt the others. He couldn't see anything to cut with, though. The controller dropped from his hands as he put his full strength into pulling at the rope.

Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

Karen looked around the room she found herself in, trying to locate where the voice had come from. Unable to actually see where the cat was, she scowled at the microwave, where the voice seemed to have come from. Well at least I’m finally getting some answers, she thought. Although it didn’t reassure her to hear them.

“Who is ‘Big Boss’ exactly?” Karen asked. “And why would it ask you to kill people? You make it sound like you’re sacrificing people to some kind of crazed...God.” The dancer spoke derisively, although she hesitated a little on the last word. She glanced behind her as soon as she said it, paranoid that an angel would appear from the inky blackness, just for mentioning that word. She moved further into the room on her crutches, suddenly uncomfortable about having nothing but an abyss behind her. The girl’s eyes fell on the Tv, gazing at it for a moment.

“And another thing, you already killed that man you wanted dead. You got what you wanted, didn’t you? Can’t you just leave the rest of us alone now? Why are we still being attacked? I mean, some of us didn’t even do anything against you! What more do you want?”

Lorenz spun around and watched in horror as Liyr was lassoed around the neck. Lorenz grabbed the knife from his side and ran towards Liyr, tugging back at the rope while slashing at it haphazardly. He muttered, his words barely having a tune to them at all, "Hold on Liyr, I've got you. Just a few more cuts and... There~!" Lorenz sliced through the rope, pulling Liyr to his feet. "That daft old woman has gone and done something... We better find more cover before he gets us with something worse." Lorenz looked around and ran for cover, beside the clocktower, rather than inside it. "Karen's already safe in there, I'm not going to endanger her." Lorenz' face was slightly red, but with the intense heat it was hard to tell.

Fenix13: Remember this well Gareth: With great power... comes hot bitches.

"This isn't good." Even knowing how obvious this was, Sin still said it, and instantly felt slightly annoyed with himself. Having 'zoned out' momentarily as they walked into the house, he hadn't responded to anything anyone had said to him. "No, I do not know them," Speaking as his brain processed the question long after it would have if he hadn't zoned out. "Possibly." Looking at the interior of the house, from this new perspective, Sin allowed his mind to wander, taking in as many details as he could. It might be useful.

“Shh…” Pearl held a finger to her lips and shushed William softly. “There’s need to be scared. We all have our ‘disorders’ or else we wouldn’t have been in such a reached place. I can’t tell you how many times those doctors told me that my children weren’t real.” There was a tinge of anger in the old woman’s voice. “There’s no need to be scared as long as we all stick together. The doctors are gone. They can’t hurt any of us any more and are new friends are going to help.” Pearl inched closed closer to William but pulled back as soon as she saw the blood. “Oh my God you’re bleeding!” She gasped instinctively covering her mouth. Listening to the young man’s explanation didn’t help much. What had those monsters done to this poor thing? “Yes my all means, please get your rest. Don’t you worry about a thing.” Pearl turned to their would be benefactors. “Vox, Vexegon, you need to get our friend inside so he can rest. Something’s wrong. He’s not doing well.”